I’m still working on getting down to the final two in time for TCM 2013, but I’ll be writing these brief posts about the last 50 performances on my list; since they still barely cling to my memory and I want to jot something down while I still can. For starters, Greer Garson:
GREER GARSON IN BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (1941)
The competition (Cliff: 5 for 5!)
Joan Fontaine in Suspicion
Bette Davis in The Little Foxes
Olivia de Havilland in Blossoms in the Dust
Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire
WHAT I’VE SEEN: all five!
Garson’s early Technicolor biopic about a Texas widower crusading for orphans’ rights. The film is overstuffed and tonally all over the place, and Garson is intermittently successful in animating the material, most effectively in an Iron Lady-esque scene addressing the Texas State Legislature from up in the balcony (pictured above). A decent contender to round out the 1941 race, though I’d still give the award to Bette Davis for The Little Foxes.
Cliff's Oscar Quest 